In the past, Apple typically reserves its new chipsets for its iPhones, where they then follow-up with a variant of that chipset designed for the iPad. This year, Apple seems to have taken a different approach because the company’s latest iPad Air has been announced where it will feature the brand new A14 Bionic chipset ahead of the iPhone 12.
In a way, how Apple describes the new A14 chipset should give us an idea of what we might be able to expect from the new iPhone 12 in terms of performance and features. Built on the 5nm process, the A14 features a new 6-core design that Apple claims will offer a 40% boost in CPU performance, along with a 4-core GPU that will offer up to 30% in improvement in graphics.
There is also a built-in 16-core neural engine that is twice as fast that can be used to analyze motion, image recognition, and more. The new iPad Air will come with a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display and will also come with Touch ID built into the top button, also another first for Apple. It also features a brand new design that is similar to the iPad Pro.
There have also been improvements made to the camera and audio where it will sport a 7MP front-facing camera and a 12MP rear-facing camera. The new iPad Air will also use a USB-C connection and will be priced starting at $599 for the WiFi-only model, and $729 for the WiFi and cellular model.